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Storytellers #5- Canine

Posted by ZANEMaybe I'm thinking too hard, maybe the song is simply about a dog.......
On February 02, 2015

I really do not like the status quo. I don't like how everything becomes so formulaic for so many people, and if they deviate from that status quo, even a fraction, they are ridiculed or made to feel inferior. In part, it's the story of my life. My parents were very accepting for the most part. I won't say understanding because I don't think they could understand (at least not in regards to what I suffered everyday at the hands of the idiot rednecks who picked on me). I held a lot of things in growing up, and couldn't connect to the larger populace surrounding me. I didn't care for clothing fashion, or what was popular. I was ridiculed even when I tried to fit in so I recused myself of the culture, and made my own way. It seemed everyone was pushing a formula for life. Mostly teachers and counselors, but the formula was the same : Do good in school, go to college, get a good job. And do whatever you were told in the meantime to achieve these goals. Cut your hair, lose weight, dress like everyone else, salute the flag, don't express unpopular opinions, shun tattoos, shun art, shun anything that doesn't "look" right, etc...... That formula held no appeal to me.

That brings us to this week's edition of Storytellers. Canine.

I wrote this song in 2010, when I was at an especially low point. There is a lot of good advice out there. There is also a lot of wrong advice out there as well. Most advice will have you wind up living as a dog in a kennel. "Eat, sleep, procreate, that's all life wants of you". The song uses the worry free life of a dog in a cage as it's metaphor for the unexamined life. There is a balance. You don't want to be a lap dog for society, but you also don't want to live as a ravenous wolf tearing apart any who comes into view. It is probably best to live as a human being, not to relegate yourself to baser instincts. Never run with the pack, unless your the one leading.

Maybe I'm thinking too hard, maybe the song is simply about a dog.......